Use this skill to tell when someone is bluffing you, to discern hidden messages in conversations, or to sense when someone is being magically influenced. This skill represents sensitivity to the body language, speech habits, and mannerisms of others.
Check
A successful check lets you avoid being bluffed (see the
Bluff skill). You can also use this skill to determine when "something is up" (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone's trustworthiness.
Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can get the feeling from another's behavior that something is wrong, such as when you're talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.
Sense Enchantment: You can tell that someone's behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (by definition, a mind-affecting effect), even if that person isn't aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate person), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target's activities.
Discern Secret Message: You may use Sense Motive to detect that a hidden message is being transmitted via the
Bluff skill. In this case, your Sense Motive check is opposed by the
Bluff check of the character transmitting the message. For each piece of information relating to the message that you are missing, you take a -2 penalty on your Sense Motive check. If you succeed by 4 or less, you know that something hidden is being communicated, but you can't learn anything specific about its content. If you beat the DC by 5 or more, you intercept and understand the message. If you fail by 4 or less, you don't detect any hidden communication. If you fail by 5 or more, you infer some false information.
Discern Partial Alignment: This use of the skill lets you discern one component of a target's
Alignment. When making the check, you state whether you are trying to discern the law-chaos or good-evil component. You can't retry the check, and you can't use this to discern more than one component of the
Alignment (but see below). The target must be visible and within 30 feet.
Discern Full Alignment: This use of the skill lets you determine both components of a target's
Alignment. You can't retry the check. The target must be visible and within 30 feet.
Detect Surface Thoughts: This lets you read the surface thoughts of a single target (as the 3rd-round effect of the detect thoughts spell). There is no saving throw to resist this effect, though the target can use
Bluff to disguise his or her surface thoughts (see the
Bluff skill description), in which case this becomes an opposed check (any result lower than 100 automatically fails). The target must be visible and within 30 feet.
Assess Opponent: As a
Standard Action, you can use Sense Motive to ascertain how tough a challenge an opponent poses for you, based on your level and your opponent's CR. This skill check is opposed by the opponent's
Bluff check. To attempt this task, your opponent must be visible to you and within 30 feet. If you have seen the opponent in combat, you gain a +2
Circumstance Bonus on the check.
The accuracy of the assessment depends on the amount by which your Sense Motive check result exceeds the opposed
Bluff check result. On a successful Sense Motive opposed check, you can gain the following information:
A successful assessment reveals that your foe belongs in one of two adjacent categories (for example, "Easy" or "A fair fight"). If your Sense Motive check result exceeds the opposed
Bluff check result by 10 or more, you can narrow the result down to a single category.
By contrast, if the target's
Bluff check result equals or slightly exceeds your Sense Motive check result, you gain no useful information. If the target's
Bluff check result exceeds your Sense Motive check result by 5 or more, you may (at the DM's option) gain a false impression, believing your opponent to be much stronger or weaker than he really is (equal chance of either). If the target's
Bluff check result exceeds your Sense Motive check result by 10 or more, your assessment is off by at least two categories (for example, a dire threat might be assessed as a fair fight).
An opponent that is particularly vulnerable to your typical attack routine (for example, a vampire facing a high-level
Cleric of Pelor) registers as one category less challenging; one who is resistant to your typical attack routine (for example, a golem opposing a
Rogue who relies heavily on sneak attacks) registers as one category more challenging.
Action
Trying to gain information with Sense Motive generally takes at least 1 minute, and you could spend a whole evening trying to get a sense of the people around you.
Try Again
No, though you may make a Sense Motive check for each
Bluff check made against you.
Special
A
Ranger gains a bonus on Sense Motive checks when using this skill against a favored enemy.
The Combat Intuition feat grants a +4 bonus on Sense Motive checks made to assess opponents. It also enables you to narrow your assessment of your opponent's combat capabilities to a single category. Finally, it allows you to accomplish this task as a
Free Action.
Skill Unlock
A character who selects this skill for the Signature Skill feat or a
Rogue who selects it for their Rogue's Edge class ability gains the following abilities when they reach the designated number of ranks in this skill:
- 5 Ranks: If you were aware of an opponent before rolling Initiative (such as when you ambush an enemy or negotiations break down into combat, but not when both sides happen upon each other or you are surprised), you can attempt a Sense Motive check as part of your Initiative check (DC = 11 + the highest Bluff modifier among your opponents or DC 15, whichever is higher). If you succeed, you gain a +1 bonus on the Initiative check, plus an additional +1 for every 5 by which you exceeded the DC.
- 10 Ranks: After 1 minute of conversation, you can read a creature’s surface thoughts (as detect thoughts) by attempting a Sense Motive check at a –20 penalty opposed by the creature’s Bluff check.
- 15 Ranks: You can read surface thoughts as above after 1 round. In addition, when attacked, you can attempt a Sense Motive check as an Immediate Action opposed by your target’s attack roll. A successful check grants a +2 Insight Bonus to your AC against attacks from that specific opponent for 1 minute.
- 20 Ranks: You can read surface thoughts as above as a Standard Action. A successful check to gain an Insight Bonus to your AC also negates the attack that triggered it.
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